by Stephen Covey  (in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, p 236)

Suppose you’ve been having trouble with your eyes and you decide to go to an optometrist for help. After briefly listening to your complaint, he takes off his glasses and hands them to you.

“Put these on,” he says. “I’ve worn this pair of glasses for ten years now and they’ve really helped me. I have an extra pair at home; you can wear these.”

So you put them on, but it only makes the problem worse.

“This is terrible!” you exclaim. “I can’t see a thing!.”

“Well, what’s wrong?” he asks. “They work great for me. Try harder.”

“I am trying,” you insist. “Everything is a blur.”

“Well, what’s the matter with you? Think positively.”

“Okay. I positively can’t see a thing.”

“Boy, are you ungrateful!” he chides. “And after all I’ve done to help you.”

by G. H. Reavis, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Cincinnati, Ohio (1937)

Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of “a new world,” so they organised a school. They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming, and flying, and to make it easier to administer, all animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming, better in fact than his instructor and made passing grades in flying, but he was very poor in running. Since he was so slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming to practice running, This was kept up until his web feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school, so nobody worried about that except the duck.

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much makeup work in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground-up instead of from the tree-top-down. He also developed charlie-horses from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and a D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceedingly well, also run, climb, and fly a little had the highest average and was valedictorian.

The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their child to a badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private school.

Version 1:

 An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice, “Let me tell you a story. 

I, too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. 

But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times.” He continued, “It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way. 

But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger,for his anger will change nothing. 

Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.” 

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather’s eyes and asked, “Which one wins, Grandfather?” 

The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, “The one I feed.” 

 Version 2 

 An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. 

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.” 

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” 

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.” 

A poor man, Depa, once found an enormously valuable jewel. Being a person of little desire, and content with his small income, Depa pondered to whom he should give the jewel. He tried to think who was most in need and suddenly was inspired to give the jewel to King Prasenajit. The king was astounded as there were many poor and needy people, but Depa said, ‘O King, it is you who is the poorest, because you lack contentment.’

Nagarjuna, Letter to a Friend (and reproduced in Buddhism for Busy People :Finding Happiness in an Uncertain World by David Michie)

 

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, “Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.” The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, “You have seen Hell”.

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, “I don’t understand.” “It is simple,” said the Lord, “it requires but one skill.”

Can you guess the answer?

To avoid a hungry tiger, a monk climbed halfway down a cliff, until he was hanging by a branch above a ledge that held…

another tiger!

Next to the branch was a strawberry bush.  With his free hand, the monk picked a strawberry, popped it into his mouth and thought, “How delicious!”

(Stephan Rechtschaffen’s version; Stephan is author of Timeshifting: Creating more time to enjoy your life).

—

The moral of that story?

I actually didn’t spot it when I first read the story.  I was too shocked, thinking “Why is that crazy monk eating strawberries when he should be worrying about that tiger waiting for him on the ledge below!”

To read the official answer,

show < == click Here